Independent Analysis of Province's Bill 23 Financial Impacts Shows Burlington Forecasted to Lose $335M in Parkland Dedication & $36.6M in Development Charges
At our March 29 Corporate Services, Strategy, Risk and Accountability (CSSRA) Committee, Council received an independent analysis report done by Watson & Associates Economists Ltd. breaking down the financial impacts of the Province's Bill 23 on the City of Burlington.
MY TAKE:The independent analysis from our consultant, Watson & Associates Economists Ltd., is an incredible eye-opener. Based on this analysis, the hit development charges will take and the hole created by Bill 23 and other legislation, just can’t possibly be filled by the Province. The report shows the negative impact on Burlington’s finances due to Bill 23 of $36.6 million for lost development charges — and a whopping $335 million in parkland dedication. These losses would fall on taxpayers and that goes completely against the principle of ‘growth should be paying for growth’.This report details the challenges we’re up against, and that we can’t build just housing. We need to build complete communities. We have to turn our mind to getting as much accurate data as we can and update it as often as we can, so that when we come back with our multi-year strategies as a City, that helps us determine how to build truly livable communities. We will figure out how to deal with these challenges, but we also understand their magnitude.
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The purpose of the staff report and independent analysis was to provide an overview of the financial impacts of the More Homes Build Faster Act (Bill 23) on the City’s development charges, community benefits charge and park dedication funding tools.See the links below for supporting documents and more details:
- Staff report: F-10-23 Bill 23 Impact Analysis
- Consultant Presentation: F-10-23 Bill 23 financial impact analysis consultant presentation
Background:On November 28, 2022, the Provincial government enacted specific legislative provisions of Bill 23, impacting the city’s revenue collection under the following growth funding tools (GFT): development charges (DC), community benefits charge (CBC) and park dedication (PD). The intent of Bill 23 legislation is:
- Building more homes;
- Reducing costs, fees and taxes;
- Streamlining development approvals; and
- Helping homebuyers and renters
Staff provided comments on the Environmental Registry of Ontario (ERO 019-6172) and in previous Council report CS-12-22. Overall, conveying that the changes proposed in Bill 23, namely those impacting development charges, parkland dedication fees (including land conveyance) and community benefits charges, will have significant and broad sweeping consequences to municipal finances.Bill 23 is contrary to the city’s long-standing guiding principle in which “Growth Pays for Growth”. That new growth is financially sustainable and that development related charges apply to growth related infrastructure, facilities and parks to support the development of complete communities. The principle of growth paying for growth is a critical consideration to avoid or minimize the burden of growth costs falling on existing taxpayers.The City retained Watson & Associates Economists Ltd. (Watson) to provide an assessment of the financial impact from the enactment of Bill 23. Appendix A provides the details of the assessment specific to the following:
- Development Charges impact from:
- o additional statutory exemptions and discounts;
- mandatory DC phase-in;
- extension of historical service level from 10 to 15 years; and
- removal of studies as eligible capital costs;
- Community Benefits Charge impact from:
- Additional statutory exemptions for affordable and attainable residential units, inclusionary zoning units, and non-profit housing;
- Preliminary impacts to the park dedication yield and equivalent cash-in-lieu (CIL) of parkland under the amended provisions compared to the city’s existing parkland dedication by-law.
Watson & Associates have an extensive background, broad experience and knowledge of Development Charges, Community Benefits Charge and Parkland Dedication. Most recently in 2022, Watson & Associates has been involved in the DC amendment, development of the CBC strategy and amendment to the park dedication by-law for the city.RELATED LINKS: